In a fabulous display of match race talent played in front of tens of thousands of spectators at the Korea International Boat Show and live TV beamed to 90 countries, Sébastien COL (FRA) and his K Challenge/French Match Racing Team of Gilles FAVENNEC, Christophe ANDRE, Erwan ISRAEL, and Christian SCHERRER won the inaugural Korea Match Race Cup, stage three of the 2008 World Match Racing Tour.

In a first-to-three point final sailed in shifty, puffy conditions, COL defeated Ian WILLIAMS (GBR) and Team Pindar in four tough matches filled at times with collisions, penalties, and numerous lead changes from pre-start to finish.

For their efforts, COL and his team claimed the top prize of 75,000,000 Korean Won (US$75,000) in a total purse of 300,000,000 Korean Won (US$300,000), the largest awarded to date in any event on the World Match Racing Tour.

"This is a fantastic event," said the normally quiet but now beaming COL, "Because it strikes just the right balance of being close to shore where all these people can see match racing, but also have the right winds to have good sailing."

Of their battle in the finals, the reigning World Champion WILLIAMS said, "Seb just seemed to have a little more pace than us today. I don't know if was technique or that he just had more breeze, but he and his guys just seemed to sail around us. They did a great job."

The series had a deceivingly boring start, with COL winning the start, hitting the first shift to extend his initial lead, and then doing a fabulous job of continuing to read the shifts correctly throughout the two-lap course to stay ahead of Williams.

But it was in the next match that the heat got turned up. WILLIAMS won and controlled the favoured right side to lead around the course until the last beat, when COL managed to get close enough for the Brit to have to luff him before rounding getting to round the mark just a length ahead. COL then went on the attack, rolling WILLIAMS downwind, but then not staying clear after gybing back towards the finish line and earning a penalty and a red flag from match umpires Bill EDGERTON and Roger WOOD.

With tempers flaring, voices shouting, spinnakers flapping and jibs half-hoisted just metres upwind of the finish line, COL could not do his penalty tack immediately as required until WILLIAMS himself tacked, as the two were still overlapped with WILLIAMS to windward. But once WILLIAMS tacked around, he was just able to get to the finish line only metres ahead of COL, who having tacked himself was now free to bear off to race to the finish.

The score was now even, and in the match three pre-start WILLIAMS got a little too aggressive and earned a penalty just moments before crossing the start, so Col was now once again off the line with more pace. The French then continued to cover the British closely for the remainder of the match, though WILLIAMS made several valiant attempts at attacking downwind.

Now in a must-win situation, WILLIAMS used his starboard entry advantage in the pre-start of the fourth match aggressively yet with great skill, controlling COL through all but the last 30 seconds and drawing a penalty on him. But those last few seconds were crucial, as COL cleverly got back to the line with enough room to build speed and get off the start with slightly more speed. This helped him take and maintain a slight lead throughout the match, which WILLIAMS challenged several times. With a penalty still outstanding on the final run COL had it all on to extend his lead far enough for him to complete his penalty turn on the finish line. A tidy spinnaker drop and quick turn on the line allowed the French team to slip across the finish and into the winner's circle.

"This event has been really impressive," said Tour president Scott MACLEOD, "Setting all new records for prize money and attendance. The amount of enthusiasm and support here in Korea has been overwhelming." Attendance figures for the event topped 350,000, over twice what organizers expected. Among the many dignitaries on hand for the gala awards ceremony was Moon-Soo KIM, the provincial Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who said, "We are very pleased with the success of this year's Korea Match Cup, and look forward to making it even better for next year."

Tom Burton (AUS) and Alison Young (GBR) hit the right note in the Laser and Laser Radial at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as they took out the top honours and qualification spots to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.

It was double Australian gold in the Paralympic classes. Matt Bugg (AUS) came out on top in the 2.4mR whilst London 2012 Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) were triumphant in the two person keelboat.

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

There was some fast paced action in the 49er and 49erFX Medal Races at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) and Maia & Ragna Agerup (NOR) claimed the honours and Abu Dhabi final spots.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.

Melbourne, Australia will host the final Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification regatta in 2015. With just under one year until the event, the 2015 IFDS Worlds was launched at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne kick starts the journey to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with qualification spots and top ranking points available in the Australian city.

Four boats in the Volvo Ocean Race celebrated rounding the venerated landmark of Cape Horn on Monday, a pleasure cruelly denied Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) after the Chinese boat's mast was broken early in a dramatic day on Leg 5.

The wind played dirty tricks all day in Palma on the sailors and race committees who had to juggle with big shifts and different pressure. From 4 to 20 knots, and reaching 40 in some gusts, the wind turned around the bay playing with everybody's nerves.

Ghosting across the line in the inky blackness of a Mediterranean spring night, finally slicing through the finish line set on the very waters where some 40 odd years ago he cut his teeth as a young, aspiring sailor harbouring great dreams, at 01:47:00hrs local time Guillermo Altadill and his talented, ever reliable Chilean co-skipper Jose Muñoz secured second placed in this third edition of the Barcelona World Race, the round the world race for two crew which left the Catalan capital on December 31st 2014.

Algoa Bay brought lighter conditions on Sunday, and after a postponement waiting for the wind to settle, the race got underway in 7 knots of breeze from the south-east. Ted Conrads and Brian Haines from the USA were the pathfinders, and opened up the gate for the fleet as they sailed out to the right-hand side of the course.